Yasahiro continued to toss and turn throughout the night with the exhausted Isas slept beside him. He had been having vivid nightmares for the entire night and hasn't woken up yet but was aching to escape. They were flashing through like a camera and it hurt.

He could see it. He could see the circus and Anzu in a rage. He could feel her wrap a rope around his neck and suffocate him as it tugged at him full force. He could feel himself be dragged to death as he clawed at the noose around his neck.

Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!

"ISAS HELP ME!" He finally cried, shooting up from bed, screaming loudly.

Isas shot up, fumbling around in the dark to find a light switch. He turned on the beside lamp. Yasahiro had his face buried in his hands, crying loudly.

"Yasahiro? What's wrong?! Are you hurt?! What-?!"

"S-she's after me! She's going to take me!"

Isas tilted his head in confusion. "What? Who?"

"A-Anzu-Chan!"

"Anzu...? Why would you say that?"

Yasahiro sniffed. "I-I saw her in my sleep...you were there. And Eko-Chan, and Suki-San..! She took me by the neck and-and-"

Yasahiro couldn't finish, for he began to sob. Isas took Yasahiro in his arms and rocked him gently, back and forth.

"Sssh...ssh...it's okay...do not panic....I'm sure it was just a bad bad dream brought on by the stress of this mission."

"N-no! It's not! It's too real not to be true! Isas, SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME! I KNOW IT!" He cried.

Isas shushed him, but it seems that Chiyoko had already heard him, for the door to Isas' room swung open.

"I-Isas? W-what's going on?" She asked nervously.

"Nothing. Yasahiro is just...he had a very bad dream."

Chiyoko nodded in understanding as she made her way over to the bed, crawling under the sheets and hugged Yasahiro's waist.

"It's okay, Yasa! It's just a bad dream...nothing will ever hurt you! Not as long as Isas and I are here!"

Yasahiro smiled through his tears as he buried his head in Isas' neck. "T-Thank you...Chiyoko-Chan."

Chiyoko smiled as she yawned,closing her eyes as she fell asleep against Yasahiro. Isas laid them both down in bed and turned off the light, falling back asleep himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 14, 20XX

Lunch

The Quaran-Team sat at the corner at the cafeteria. Isas' hand shook intensely as he finished his third cup of coffee.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jumin asked.

"Nope. But it's fine. I'm fine. Fine fine fine fine fine!" Isas exclaimed as he reached for his fourth cup. Jumin grabbed his wrist and took the cup out of his hands.

"Thank you." Isas said.

"Alright, enough with the coffee!" Kimi exclaimed, turning to Suki. "So, Suki. How'd it go with Anzu? Did you talk to her?"

Suki sighed. "Not really. She wasn't to keen on talking to me."

Kimi groaned. "Uuggghh!! This is hopeless! We're never gonna get anywhere at this rate!"

"We could try going back again. See if anything's changed." Jumin suggested.

"N-no! We can't!" Yasahiro exclaimed.

"?!"

"Why not, Yasahiro?" Suki asked.

Yasahiro turned red in embarrassment, looking away. "I just..."

"Yasahiro had a nightmare where Anzu tried to attack him..." Isas explained..

"S-she tried to kill me!" He exclaimed.

"R-relax, Yasahiro. I'm sure it was-"

"Was a dream? Is that what you were gonna say?! JUST A-!!"

"Yasahiro! That is enough!" Isas snapped, as if Yasahiro were his child.

Yasahiro shrunk down, tears in his eyes. Isas sighed, feeling gulity for yelling at him.

"M-my apologies, Yasahiro...I did not mean to treat you in such a brute manner..."

Yasahiro shook his head as he hugged Isas' middle. "Don't be sorry.....but it wasn't just a dream...it was too real to not be true..."

Isas nodded as he ran his fingers through Yasahiro's hair. "Don't worry....I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect to you...you can count on that."

Yasahiro smiled tearfully, nuzzling closer to Isas.

"So then it's settled, we're going back to Anzu's circus." Suki stated. "Maybe this time, we might actually be a few steps ahead of the game!"

Kimi grinned. "And it's all thanks to Yasahiro!"

Yasahiro looked up in surprise. "M-me?"

"Yes. Without you, we would never have known that Ayako-Chan was ever even sick. You are her life saver."

Life saver....I'm...a life saver!

"Alright! Let's do this!" Yasahiro exclaimed.

"Ey! The hell's that kid doin' here?" Someone from across the cafeteria shouted.

"Maybe we should stop bringing Yasahiro to school...it's too suspicious with a twelve-year-old coming to high school..." Jumin said.

"You have a point."

"But I wanna go to school with Isas!" Yasahiro cried.

"I'll find something to keep you company."

"Can we just stay on topic for once in our lives?!" Kimi asked aggressively.

"Nope." Suki stated, a big grin on her face.

"You just love to make me feel inferior, don't you?"

"Sometimes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Quaran-Team had travelled deep into the depths of the Toxic Isles and back into the fairgrounds of Anzu's circus.

It was desolate but not in the way it was before. Something was different.

Something was off.

And it wasn't right.

Yasahiro his behind Isas the entire time as they entered the fairgrounds, shaking in fear.

He knew his head was close. He could feel it drawing near. He felt like he was going to die at any second. But, with Isas in front of him, he felt protected and less anxious than before.

Finally, Anzu had shown herself. She leaped off the broken Ferris wheel and in front of the group, her head down.

"Good to see you again, Anzu. Hope we didn't miss your rehearsal for this 'big show'." Isas said.

Anzu lifted her head, revealing deep eye bags and a deep frown on her face. The others stood back as she began to slowly approach them.

"What do you mean?" Suki asked.

"Well little girl, you provoked me, dear. You are a threat. A bad seed that I can't have spoil my show. So, I'll give you an offer. Leave now, and you'll get outta here without a scratch on ya. If you don't however..."

Just as she was about to continue, two shadows in the form of lions appeared beside her. She reached behind her back and pulled out a rope tied into a noose.

"I'll have to deal with you myself...so. What's it gonna be?"

Yasahiro panicked and began pulling hard on Isas' shirt. Isas held Yasahiro back, defending him in a protective stance.

In a swift motion, Anzu whipped the noose passed the others, wrapping it around Yasahiro's neck, attempting to either capture him or strangle him to death.

Without warning, she threw another noose, surpassing the others.

They were confused since Yasahiro only said he was the one to be captured.

They didn't understand why the second one was heading for Kimi.